The electric utility industry is adopting condition-based maintenance practices which dictate that maintenance should be performed only when there is data indicating an imminent adverse change in performance or failure. As a result, the industry is moving toward requiring systems for monitoring high-voltage electrical equipment and generating online performance information. Presently, however, there is no monitoring technology that can efficiently and effectively detect when a component within high-voltage electrical equipment overheats.
A conventional method for condition assessment in high-voltage electrical equipment is dissolved gas analysis (“DGA”) where the amount and types of gases dissolved in oil are analyzed to identify a trend indicating that something within the oil has overheated. DGA is subjective, and the standards are unique to each utility. In contrast to the present disclosure, DGA, even online DGA, only provides an indication related to the accumulated build-up of certain gases that indicate the oil has been overheated, a result of the insulating oil coming into contact with the overheated component surfaces. In fact, it is understood that DGA is best at detecting the gases generated during the formation and accumulation of coking, a hard coal-like deposit that accumulates on the overheated surfaces of the component. DGA does not respond immediately when an electrical device reaches a threshold temperature.